Fountain Pen Sketching Part 1: A new series

Most of my work comes under the category of ‘ink and wash’ and it is the relationship between the ink lines and the watercolour washes that I find the most exciting part of this way of working. However, most of the information posts on my blog to date have been about the ‘wash’ side of the equation (such as how to set up a 12 colour palette) and apart from a few explorations in coloured ink earlier this year, I have not seriously tackled the ink component and in particular the use of fountain pens.

So… I am very excited to start a new series today on fountain pen sketching!

This is something I have been thinking about for well over a year and as it is such a big topic that it was always in the too hard basket. But over the past few months I have been working with Goulet Pens to put together some main thoughts about why fountain pens are so good for sketching, to give a few important tips and to make a few personal recommendations of pens. My original idea was to write one post entitled “Why EF, Why Lamy?” But of course, in true Liz-style, the plan has got bigger – much bigger!

There is a LOT of amazing content out there about fountain pens that it can almost be overwhelming. So I wanted to simplify it to the aspects I believe are the most important for sketchers and to share my personal preferences. I am not going to try to repeat information that is dealt with elsewhere and so wherever possible I will be linking to Goulet’s videos.

I have spent hours going through Goulet’s extensive resources and youtube channel, filling in the gaps of my knowledge and collecting the most relevant links! I have also gone through their extensive range of pens to see if there are a few potential sketching pens that I haven’t tested … ha! are you surprised by that?Please note: This is not a sponsored post, and although I will be linking to Goulet videos and to their pen listings, none of these are affiliated links. I simply wanted to work with Goulet Pens because I greatly admire what they do – their amazing personal service, extensive range of pens and inks, in-depth pen reviews and especially their generosity and commitment to free educational content. Goulet kindly sent me two Noodlers Konrad pens and one of their maintenance kits to test, but I am not receiving any payment for this series of blog posts.

I do not consider myself a fountain pen expert, although preparing these posts has expanded my knowledge a lot, but I have used them since I was 10 years old. I wrote my high school notes using an old Parker pen of my dad’s and when I went to university, my design tutor often stole my cheap Shaeffer pen for the day because it was so good to draw with. As an architect most of the hand drawn drawings that went out of the office were completed with fine liner pens, but all my design drawings and many of my handwritten notes were done using a fountain pen.

So it was only natural when I started sketching (thanks to Danny Gregory) and read that he used a Lamy Safari pen that I bought one online straightaway. Only a few weeks later I went into a fountain pen store here in Sydney (sadly now closed) to check to see if this was really the best option and the owner suggested that I might like the balance of the Lamy Joy calligraphy pen. I did! He sold me one with an extra fine nib (rather than the calligraphy nib it comes with) and well… the rest is history!

My White Joy is my ‘go-to’ pen and an important part of my kit (I chose the white because I lost two Black Joy pens a few years ago). When I put this pen in my hand I just want to start sketching and it truly feels like an extension of me – my pen and I are one and we start going places! On my second visit to the above mentioned pen shop, the same man sold me a gold nib but for many years I was too afraid to take it out sketching. However after buying the White Joy I decided it was time to start using it regularly. So my White Joy (with gold nib) travels with me everywhere now!

And when I take on-location photos of my sketches, my White Joy always seems to get in the frame. It has become one of my trademarks. Aside: I just love the name of the pen too – Joy!

But just to make it clear, I am not saying that this pen is THE ONE PEN for everyone, but just that I am nuts about it! (Have you realised that fact yet?)

The point of this series is to show you that fountains pens open up many possibilities for you to find a tool that really suits YOU. I truly believe that when your pen becomes an extension of you, your work can start to flow out of you more freely. And as we will see in Part 2, the flow of ink on the page is pretty special too.

What will I be looking at in this series? (click here for the index of the series)
Part 2. Why draw with a fountain pen?
Part 3. Using a fountain pen
Part 4. Choosing a fountain pen
Part 5. Basic fountain pens
Part 6. Fountain pens with variable lines 1
Part 7. Fountain pens with variable lines 2s.

So today I am just doing an introduction – but if you want to do some ‘homework’ before Part 2 comes out, here are some links to keep you going:

The best introduction to Fountain Pens and recommended viewing for anyone who uses them is Goulet’s Fountain Pen 101 videos.
And feel free to email them if you have any fountain pen questions

Some other sketchers who have written great posts about fountain pens:

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42 Comments

yes _ will be mentioning a lot of those things. and thanks for replying Kate while I was sleeping! Yes sounds like the body is not sealed. I just did my first recently did my first eye dropper to a preppy. More later...

Oh, I'm so looking forward to this "series," Liz. As a total beginner (who started your Foundations course but life got in the way and I'm still not past the first lesson...sigh), I bought the Lamy Safari as well as Joy from Goblet (with converters) as a treat for myself. But I've not even opened the boxes. Your series will be just right to allow me to dip my toes into the ink--and relieve my buyer's guilt ;-)

I was thinking of asking you a question about fountain pen using, actually. ;)

Will you talk about converter use in the "Using a fountain" post ?I am wondering how do you handle it, with the quantity of sketches you make. Obvisouly, it's amazing to be able to choose our ink but... don't you think converters use is really annoying?!

I always fear to make a mess with the waterproof ink when dipping the pen in the bottle, and I admit that having to wipe the nib each time bothers me too, because of the loss of ink, the messy thing (tissue full of ink…). Like you, I am not a stationery geek wanting absolutely to have shiny pen with clean nibs as if they were brand new, but the always inky nib is a little annoying too. Do you have to fill your pens each evening (especially your Lamy Joy)? Or, as you have many pens, every few days is enough?Converters are so small...Do you have some tricks to a less bothered use of fountain pen convertors?

I would like to use some of my fountain pens as eye droppers (will you talk about that too ? ???? ) but… (BTW : I love fude nib pens. ???? )My Hero pen has flowing issues (it seems to be a common problem… Not nice !…) so I have to frequently push the ink into the pen with the converter… And that is not possible using it as an eye dropper.The Sailors bodies are not leak proof so you can’t using them as eye droppers (I am thinking of trying to seal the end of the body with some multimorph plastic stuffed inside of it… which would be very useful, ad the Sailor converters are leaking!!…). About that, if the Sailor converters are bad (it seems that this issue is about new converters, from a few months ago and sold by now so you might not have the problem is your have older ones), can I use my pens with another converter ? Do you think you could provide some information about converter and pens compatibility, as you own many brands of fountain pen ? (for example, will it works and not gets me in trouble if I try to use a Lamy or a Hero converter in a Sailor pen ?)

By the way, I just bought a Duke pen but it’s too soon for me to say anything about it…

Hi Liz, As a fellow-left-hander, I shall be devouring these pen posts! It is something of a holy grail for me to find a pen I can draw and write with that makes me happy. Wasted so much money! I have seen a Lamy Joy for sale with a 1.1 nib - is that the "extra fine" you refer to? Thanks for all the research on our behalf.

Thank you so much for answering me, dear Kate. :) The leaking issues I am talking about, for an eye dropper conversion, are not where the body is screwed (I use silicon grease for that and it seems to work well : in my Pilot parallel pens, it is) but at the end of the pen body.Sailors pens seem to leak here, at the end (opposite to the cap). I tried putting some water in it, as a test, and then were able to confirm the body is not leak proof when my convertor leaked!...

Great topic Liz. I love my collection of old 1940's various flex fountain pens. I haven't used them for sketching as yet as I'm hesitant about using waterproof ink in them. I also have a Lamy Joy and about 6 Safari's ...... I'm just starting to experiment with them in my sketching as I have always loved the feel of fountain pens since a boy in school. I'm really looking forward to the rest of your updates on fountain pens .... it is tremendous that you are willing to share with others - Thank you.

I like the idea of fountain pens for the variety of line weight, but I have found them unreliable if not used regularly, they dry out before I get to use up the ink. I tend to carry brush pen markers or micron products because they wont leak and are always ready to go. I am curious about how fountain pen artists handle them...do you refill them every day? You have a lot of pens so do they dry out or do you flush out the ink when you are not using them regularly and just fill them when you are going to use them?

Thank you so much for making this series Liz and spreading the fountain pen fever! I loooooooove fountain pens, especially vintage flex pens, and your writing/ sketches, so this is a win- win combo. I can't wait to see the rest of this series. May you convert many to the inky side!!

Thank you so much for start his blog and the series of "scketching with fountain pen", i love the white Lamy joy and gold nib combo! found your blo is a inspiration for me for finally make the step of sketch with ink.Gretings

For several years now I've been using the "Visconte Travelers ink well... http://www.coloradopen.com/product/Visconti-Traveling-Inkwell/visconti-fountain-pen-refills?r=GMRC&s=GMRC&p=GMRC&gclid=CjwKEAiA1o-zBRDomsWasvKh4S8SJADSlZkqAEeDLQYL7FeqSpPLaPFlH93TlAv6PujSmPuRjY1wrxoClGjw_wcB Works for me... has anyone else tried it?

Hi Liz, Loving your postings!!! You got me into fountain pens late last year. I have been very lucky since. My husband goes does a lot of work overseas and used to bring me "stuff" ... eg the airplane toiletry bags or conference backpacks etc. We have quite a few. However when I discovered that he is a secret fountain pen addict from the old days but hadn't had one for years I asked him to look for fountain pens overseas instead. Now we share this love and when he comes home , I get a new fountain pen or more when he gets home!!!!!! :-)))) Now we have two loves we share (apart from kids and granddaughter) fountain pens and ukuleles. Beware of them too VERY ADDICTIVE as well!

Hey Liz,I have my tea, a cushion to sit on and i shall be catching up on your series (i think you are up to post number 5 now) and all the others you have links to, for the rest of my morning and most of the afternoon in lazy old Lapta, Cyprus. Thanks for this, it is really cool of you to share.

Liz, I have recently started following you and your blogs. I am going to first go through the fountain pen sketching series! I have ordered and received the Liz Steel package from Goulet pens. So now I have the Lamy Joy( mine is black). I removed the cartridge and using a converter, loaded it with ink. It came equipped with a 1.1mm nib. I have been trying to get used to this nib. I really do not think I am going to be comfortable drawing with this nib! I have been using a extrafine and a fine nib. We come to my question.... Do you draw or sketch with this 1.1mm nib on your Joy or do you use another nib for your sketching??? I can see using the Calligraphy nib for writing, but not for drawing! I have also purchased your book on Architecture sketching! It looks to be very informative and is very inspirational!
I love looking at the sketchs from your trips. They are so good, you feel like you are also visiting this city!???? I can start to read the blogs, and before I know it, I've been sitting at my IPad for hours reading!!!you are very lucky to be able to travel so exstinsively! We have been to Italy and Greece awhile back. I would love to go back and now, take a sketchbook with me and my Joy!!!?????
Thanks for your time! Happy traveling, sketching and "Write on"! Ha!
Will wait for your reply before trying to draw with my 1.1 nib! May just change it to a fine nib!
Your new follower and avid admirer.......... Sandra Powers

Hi Sandra - yes I have seen and am relying to your comment. Thanks I do not draw with the 1.1 nib (this is the nib the pen comes with) but use the EF or F nib for drawing. Keep reading this series of articles or go to my sketching tools section for more!